Winter arrived with a vengeance this weekend, and most woke Monday morning to about 30 cm of snow. Now would be a good time to review the City’s snowplowing routines and remind residents what they can do to assist.
The City of Kimberley is responsible for clearing and sanding some 80 km of main roadways, side streets and back lanes, and they have prioritized which routes receive sanding and plowing first. That means that your back lane may not be done for a few days after a major storm.
The first priority is to clear main streets and emergency access routes with hills. This includes roads that access the schools, special care homes, health centre, central business area and ski hill. After that, the City plows what are called collector streets, which do not have steep terrain but do have heavy volumes of traffic and include Rotary Drive, Knighton Road and 312 Avenue. Residential streets are then attended to. On a weekend or holiday, only the top priority routes are plowed.
If another major snowfall occurs before the lower priority streets are fully cleared, the top priorities are plowed again.
In order to ensure that all plowing is done in as efficient a manner as possible, residents are asked to:
Remove all unused vehicles, boats, trailers, etc. from the streets.
Remove snow and ice from sidewalks fronting their properties.
Park vehicles off City streets/avenues while snow removal is in progress or when snow removal signage is in place.
Please note that the City will not clear windrows from private driveways.
Children should be advised not to play on snow banks adjacent to roads and to remain well away from snow removal equipment.
Do not place steel posts or rocks on boulevards as markers, these cause damage to City vehicles and injury to City personnel. Anyone responsible for such installations will be held liable for injury or damage they cause.
More information on plowing is available on the City website at www.city.kimberley.bc.ca